How does a toy get into the National Toy Hall of Fame?

D&C wiffle ball coach Patti Singer talks with David Mullany, president of The Wiffle Ball, Inc. about being chosen for the Toy Hall of Fame. And it turns out he was equally as excited to meet the D&C wiffle ball team!
Patti Singer, Virginia Butler

The 12 finalists were announced on September 12, 2017 for the National Toy Hall of fame(Photo: Provided by the Strong National Museum of Play)

Three well-known toys were inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame this week, but the selections left some wondering why their favorites hadn’t made the cut.

Representatives from The Strong Museum of Play announced 2017’s winning playthings on Thursday — the paper airplane, the board game Clue and the Wiffle Ball — after a lengthy process involving several committees, nearly 500 toy options and thousands of nominations.

What’s the public part of the process?

This year, the public's toy nominations were accepted until July 31, and were then collected and reviewed by an internal museum committee, which included curators, educators and historians, said Strong Museum spokesman Shane Rhinewald. The internal committee narrows thousands of nominations down to its top 12 recommendations, or finalists, based on criteria such as innovation or longevity. Members of the public can then vote on their favorite finalists.

Matchbox cars and PEZ candy dispensers were the top public finalist picks this year, said Rhinewald.

The nominations and public online poll allow people to suggest their favorite toys, but they don’t factor into the final voting process to decide the winners, he said. Officials have discussed the possibility of further incorporating the public in the formal selection process in the future, he said.

How does the final selection work?

The top 12 go to a national committee for ranking. The ranked list of finalists, which this year included sand, the game UNO and play food, factors heavily into the internal committee's final picks, said Rhinewald. Two to three winning toys are chosen each year, and must be those that have inspired play across generations.

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If the national committee’s list is topped by similar toys, such as several board games, the museum committee may pick a more diverse group of winners, he said. This year, the three winners were the top three from the national committee’s ranking, he said.

Because so many people are invested in the nostalgic and societal significance of these toys, some are upset with the results each year, he said.

“I know that there are passionate groups of collectors,” he said, noting that debate over the best toys is part of the excitement of the process. It’s only natural that someone might feel slighted if their favorite doesn’t make it in, he said, but chances are if your favorite toy has appeared on the finalist list, it may get into the Hall of Fame eventually.

How can you nominate toys for next year?

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